Determine your last frost date, add a week to that for safety sake, then count backwards 6-8 weeks and start your seeds then.

Zone 6 last frost date here is around the 3rd week in April (yours may vary so double check) so plant out date would be around May first. You'd start the seeds approx. 1-15th March.

Dave

Digdirt is right, but I know people in new jersey who start theirs around now, and by the time they set them outside they have two-three foot plants, and a serious lead on the season.

by the time they set them outside they have two-three foot plants, and a serious lead on the season.

IME plants that large are heavily stressed, tolerate the transplanting process poorly, and are slow to recover and produce. There are several studies showing that normal 6-8" transplants, planted at the proper time, will quickly catch up to and even surpass such large plants - and without all the stress.

YMMV

Dave

In my experience, there are several factors to consider. First, your growing conditions indoors. You want shorter plants with stout stems and less distance between internodes, which requires very good light. I grow under a bank of 10 40 watt flourescent lights. The light intensity falls off rapidly with distance. They can get 18 inches tall in six weeks, which is the maximum height I have had good results with. They get floppy if I let them grow any taller.

Another consideration is soil temperature when you move them outdoors. Many of my neighbors in this area, where the last frost occurs around May 1, plant soon after that. Ive learnerd to wait until the third or fourth week of May after several warm days. My neighbors scramble to protect their plants from cold nights, but my smaller plants planted later usually catch up and produce sooner than theirs.

I winter/spring sow my seeds. I plant out when they are several inches tall and cover with two liter soda bottles until I'm past the risk of frost. I planted my seedlings out sometime in April last year.

Thank you everyone for your help. I think I'll split the difference and start in Feb.

Be sure to keep good notes on all the details - date started, date transplanted, date to the garden, size, date first fruit set, etc. That way you'll know when to start and how to adjust the whole process next year.

Dave

In my experience, tomato will germinate and grow much faster than pepper so I wouldn't really start them at the same time. Over here in 7a, I sow pepper in late February and tomato in mid March and that schedule has served me very well.

Earth box probably will have a warmer soil temp than in the ground but I still wouldn't plant out pepper plants too early. They will just sit there instead of doing much actually growing until it gets warm enough.

I agree with Dave that I get better results if the transplant is abot 6-8" tall when transplanted. As long as the soil temperature is warm enough, they do great.

I also agree with Ikea that it's a good idea to start your peppers earlier than you start your tomatoes.

Here is a link that might be useful: New Jersey Freeze / Frost Occurrence Data

For your area of New Jersey, plants should go in the ground around the 10th of May and no later than the 25th of May.

Hot peppers take about 3 weeks longer to grow than sweet bell peppers. They need 10 to 12 weeks to reach a size to go outdoors. Bell Peppers generally require 8 to 10 weeks to reach the same size. Tomatoes need 6 to 8 weeks.

To put dates on that, given a May 10th frost free date, you would start the hot peppers about 15th of February, sweet peppers about the 1st of March, and tomatoes about the 15th of March. You can vary by a week either way with no major difference.

You will need a good light as mentioned above to start seedlings.

DarJones

Listen to the experts here and dont start the tomatoes to early. Last year, I "just couldnt wait", and I regretted it. Remember that as they grow you will have to pot them up. 20 4"-6" pots dont take up a lot of room, but do you have enough good grow light space for 20, 1 gallon pots? Go ahead with peppers and eggplants they are much slower.